国际英语资讯:3 top Afghan provincial officials killed in shooting, U.S. general unhurt

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Oct. 18 -- Three top Afghan provincial officials and a local journalist were killed in a shooting, after an Afghan-NATO security meeting attended by top U.S.-NATO commander in Afghanistan, in southern province of Kandahar on Thursday, a local source said.

Gen. Abdul Raziq, police chief of Kandahar, Gen. Momin Khan, head of the intelligence department, were killed on the spot and provincial Governor Zulmay Weesa died of serious wounds in a hospital, the source, on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua.

Gen. Raziq was a key anti-Taliban figure in southern Afghanistan and he had escaped over two dozens of direct attacks and suicide bomb blasts in the past, he said.

The shooter, who served as governor's bodyguard, was also killed in the incident.

The source added that Gen. Austin Scott Miller, top U.S.-NATO commander in Afghanistan, escaped from the attack but three U.S. soldiers and several other people were injured in the attack, claimed by the Taliban insurgent group.

"This was an Afghan-on-Afghan incident. Three Americans were wounded, have been medically evacuated and are stable. General Miller is uninjured. We are being told the area is secure. The attacker is dead," U.S.-Forces Afghanistan twitted.

The attack came as the country is preparing for long-delayed elections for Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of the Afghan parliament, which are slated for Saturday, Oct. 20 with more than 2,500 candidates vying for the chamber's 249 seats.

The meeting discussed security measure for providing security for polling centers in Kandahar and other restive southern provinces.

On Wednesday, an Afghan parliament member Abdul Jabar Qahraman, who was seeking re-election, was killed in a Taliban bomb blast in neighboring Helmand province.

Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement.